Thicker Than Water
by VegetarianFannibal
Summary: My rewritten version of the events of "Chase Lays an Egg." A bit more of an in-depth look at Omi and Jack's friendship, and Chase Young's relationships with his various offspring.


**Notes: After watching "Chase Lays an Egg" I fell in love with the ideas and plot behind it; however, I was not entirely impressed with how the episode was written. So I took it upon myself to rewrite the episode the way I would have liked to see it! Most of this was written as part of my NaNoWriMo word count, so I apologize in advance for any typos within.**

"I wish I hadn't have given you to Chase," Jack Spicer muttered from where he was slouched in the corner, watching F-Bot prepare Chase's Young's Lao Mang Long soup. "Making your own food is hard, especially since I can't just have my mom buy me pudding cups anymore…"

"I am sorry, Jack-boy," replied the robot chef. "Perhaps you could learn to cook for yourself by helping me! Now would you hand me the sesame oil?"

The evil boy genius sighed and sulked over to Chase Young's spice cabinet. "Sesame oil, sesame oil," he muttered as he ran his finger along the countless rows of jars. "Hey, what's this?" he wondered as his curious eyes landed upon a dark green bottle with a deep red warning printed on the label. "Rare Orchid Serum," he read, taking the bottle from the shelf. "Toxic: Do Not Ingest. Hmm, F-Bot, do you know what this does?"

Just as the boy genius was about to hand over the bottle for the robotic chef's inspection, the irritated voice of the palace's owner sounded from the hall. "Jack?"

The unexpectedness of hearing his name in Chase's harsh tone caused Jack to jump and the bottle of toxic orchid serum to slip from his clammy hand, straight into the pot of Lao Mang Long soup. The boy and the robot both cringed as they heard the glass break and watched the soup be overcome by an ominous green fizz.

"What are you doing in here, Spicer?" asked Chase Young, entering the room. "Not messing with my soup, I hope?"

"N—no, of course not!" cried Jack.

"Good. The ingredients for this soup are very hard to get. If I were to lose a whole batch because of you, I can assure you, you would regret it for the rest of your very short life. Now make yourself useful and get me a bowl."

"M—maybe you should wait! Don't want to eat too much, gotta watch that figure," Jack chuckled nervously.

Chase glared at Jack until the boy genius had back himself up against the wall. He then turned sharply and grabbed himself a bowl, holding it out as F-Bot tentatively served the tainted soup. The dark lord of evil took a sip and then glared at the contents of the bowl. It had a strange after taste that he just couldn't put his finger on. It was almost… floral.

"Are you _sure_ you didn't do anything to my soup?"

"Positive!"

"Mhmm..." Chase took another sip and left the room, leaving Jack and F-Bot to exchange a terrified glance behind his back.

Meanwhile at the Xiaolin Temple, Omi sat dejectedly by himself while the other monks all read letters and opened gifts from their family members. Even Ping Pong had a letter from his clan. But there would never be anything for him.

"Hey, cheer up, kid. It's okay. I never get anything from my family either," said Dojo, flipping through the rest of the bills and junk mail. "Oh wait, what's this? A letter from my cousin, Feilong!" The dragon ripped into the letter with his claws and read aloud its contents. "Hey, would you look at that! I'm invited to the next family reunion!"

Next to him, Omi let out another sigh.

"Oh, sorry, kid," said Dojo. "You can come with if you want."

"No, it is alright. You all have fun with your letters. I'm going to go take a walk to clean my head."

"You mean clear your head," said Raimundo.

"Are you sure, Omi? You don't have to leave," said Kimiko, starting after him.

The littlest monk shook his head. "No, I just want to be alone."

Omi wandered his way aimlessly until he could no longer hear the joyous laughter of his fellow monks, and then kept walking until the temple was out of view. He found himself walking to the top of a hill and realized it was the same hill he and his friends had all stood upon while they reminisced after defeating Wuya. He hadn't felt alone that day; even Jack Spicer had been there for him… A sigh escaped his lips again. "One truly is the loneliest plumber."

"Number," came an all too familiar voice. "One is the loneliest _number_."

Omi dashed over to look behind the lone tree that grew at the top of the hill and, to his shock, saw none other than, "Jack Spicer!? What are you doing up here?"

Jack sighed. "Drowning in my own misery."

"But why?"

"Oh, I dunno. Chase doesn't want me around anymore; Shadow never liked me. Now even Wuya hardly wants to put up with me. My robots are the closest thing I've ever had to friends, and now they don't even want to hang out with me!" he lamented. "The real question is why are you miserable and lonely? Don't you have a bunch of friends you could be off fighting evil with?"

"It is true, I do have friends, but they are all busy reading letters from their families. I don't even know who my parents are, let alone get letters from them." The monk sat down on the ground a few feet away from the boy genius, watching as a pair of birds chased after each other and squabbled mid-flight. "I came up here to be alone, but I suppose we could be alone together."

"I came up here because this is one of the only places you and the other monks were ever nice to me," admitted Jack. "When we were up here after we defeated Wuya, we almost could have been friends. But I guess I messed that up too. I always do."

Omi felt a pang of hurt in his chest for the pathetic villain slumped over beside him. He had always felt more pity towards Jack Spicer than actual hatred. It wasn't as though he was truly a bad person; he just wanted to be recognized and respected, a feeling Omi knew only too well. "You don't have to always mess it up," Omi pointed out.

"Huh?"

"I have given you many chances to be my friend, but you have always betrayed me. In order to have a real friendship, it must go both ways." Omi continued to stare at the birds, who had landed on a nearby rock outcrop and seemed to have stopped fighting.

"I guess you're right… I never really thought of it that way before. Then again, I've never really had a friend, so I wouldn't know."

The birds had moved closer together and were now rubbing up against each other and preening each other's feathers affectionately.

"I would be your friend," said Omi.

"You would? B—but we're enemies!" exclaimed Jack.

"We could be frenemies!"

"Frenemies… how would that even work?"

"Well…" began Omi, remembering their conversation from the last time they had stood atop this hill, "you could start by getting me that Monday you promised me."

"Monday? What are you… oh, you mean a sundae! Wait, you really wanted to take me up on that?"

"Of course, I have always believed you have the potential to be good inside of you. Besides, who doesn't want free ice cream?"

"Point taken on the ice cream thing, but do you really think I could be good? You're not afraid I'll just do what I did last time and betray you again?" asked Jack.

"There is always the possibility of betrayal in a friendship, but I am willing to give you a chance."

"You really mean that?" As Omi nodded, Jack could no longer resist the urge to throw his arms around the monk in what was probably too tight of a squeeze. "Oh thank you! I always knew I could count on you to believe in me!"

"Please, I will not be here to believe in you if you suffocate me!" Omi wheezed out.

An embarrassed blush painting his pale face, Jack let go and tried to regain his dignity. "Oh yeah, sorry about that… so, what do you say we go get that ice cream?"

Omi allowed a small smile to make its way onto his face. "I believe I would like that."

After an afternoon of ice cream sundaes and trying to put the past behind them, Omi and Jack made their way back to the temple, still laughing and smiling at their new inside jokes. Inside the temple walls, they found the other monks training as usual. "Hello, my friends, look who I've brought!" Omi presented Jack Spicer proudly like a new puppy.

The confidence he had gained from his afternoon with Omi draining out of his as soon as he saw the disapproving glares of the rest of the monks, Jack waved nervously and blushed. "Uh, hi."

"Jack Spicer?" the other monks asked incredulously.

"What's _he_ doing here?" sneered Kimiko.

"If he's here to steal our wu, he's asking for a butt-kicking," said Raimundo, getting into a fighting stance.

Jack backed himself up against the wall and held his hands out in front of him. "No, I'm not here to fight or steal anything, honest! Besides, this is my good shirt!"

Omi stepped in front of Jack defensively. "Please, listen to him. He is telling the truth! Jack Spicer and I have decided to be frenemies!"

"Frenemies?"

"What in tarnation?"

"Omi, you can't be serious!"

"I don't wanna fight you guys anymore," said Jack, still cowering behind Omi. "I just want someone to talk to. You guys are the closest I've ever come to having real friends."

"Yeah right, Jack friends with us?" scoffed Raimundo.

"I believe him!" Omi insisted. "Maybe, if he proves his loyalty, he could even become a monk someday."

Jack smiled and nodded pleadingly. The other monks grabbed Omi and pulled him aside.

"Omi, we've been through this before," said Kimiko. "Jack's already proven he can't be trusted."

"Yeah, I'm sorry partner, but there are some rodeos you just can't win," Clay agreed.

"He is evil! It does not seem very wise to let him in on all of our Xiaolin secrets!" chimed in Ping Pong.

Omi sighed as the others turned back to glare at his new frenemy.

"Yeah, thanks for the offer and all, Jack, but you can't be friends with us," said Kimiko. "Ever."

Jack sighed. "Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I guess I'll just go then." He picked himself up off the ground and turned towards the exit. "By myself. Alone in the cruel cold world."

"Yep."

"Bye."

"See ya'!"

"Now that that's over with, who's up for some popcorn?" asked Raimundo.

As the other monks cheered at the mention of snack food, Omi sullenly watched Jack sulk his way out of the temple. It didn't feel right to go after him, but when his friends went gleefully into the temple moments later, it didn't feel right to go with them either.

Chase opened one eye as a curious pain once again threw him from his meditative state. He winced as he fell to the ground, no longer able to hold is levitation.

"What's wrong with you? You've been acting weird all day," said Shadow from where she lurked in the corner.

"I can't concentrate. One minute I'm starving and the next I feel as though I've been poisoned…" The pieces seeming to click in his head, Chase Young's dragon-like eyes gleamed and he snapped his fingers to call his cats. "Jungle cats, bring me that hunk of scrap metal Spicer gave me."

The cats growled obediently and a few seconds later returned with the terrified robot in their jaws. "What can I do for you, Master Chase? You would like an omelet, no?"

"Spicer might be able to lie to me, but I know you won't. Tell me exactly, what did you put in my soup this morning?"

"Nothing out of the usual," the robot began, before it was cut off by Chase's unwavering glare. "Except there might have been a little bit of extra flavoring…"

This robot was just as useless and evasive as the worm who had built it. Chase grabbed the machine by the neck and squeezed, just not quite tight enough to crush the circuitry. "What _kind _of extra flavoring?" he hissed.

"Toxic rare orchid serum," the robot reported, its anxiety chip going into maximum overdrive.

"You fool!" shouted Chase, ripping the robot from the cats' jaws and throwing it against the nearest wall. In his burst of anger, Chase morphed into his reptilian form. "You don't know what you've done!" the monstrous lizard roared.

"What are you going on about?" asked Shadow, still unamused.

"The rare orchid serum on its own is bad enough, but when combined with the Lao Mang Long soup it has more… disturbing properties. Ingesting both of those is the only way to activate the egg of the red robin shen gong wu. This particular shen gong wu needs a host, preferably a reptilian host. In other words, I'm going to be a father… again."

"Wait, so you're telling me you're going to… lay an egg?" asked Shadow. "How would that even…"

Chase shook his head and gripped his abdomen as another sharp pain hit him. "Don't ask."

Outside, night was falling, and Jack Spicer had sulked himself all the way back to Chase Young's lair. The way Jack saw it, either Chase would have forgotten about the soup incident, or the toxic orchid serum would have killed him by now. At least then he could have F-Bot back. Then of course there was always the third option: that the serum had not killed Chase, but only gave him food poisoning. The boy genius jumped as he heard a pained roar reverberate from within the walls of Chase's cave. "Yep, that definitely sounds like food poisoning," Jack decided. "At least he has Shadow and his cats to keep him company. Who do I have? No one!"

"No one except for me!" declared Omi, jumping out from behind a rock where he had been waiting for the right moment to surprise his new frenemy.

Jack screamed and stumbled backwards. "Chrome-dome!? What are you doing here? Have you been following me?"

"Yes, but only so that I could better surprise you with the gift of friendship!" exclaimed Omi, running forward and catching Jack Spicer in a hug.

"But the others said I couldn't be friends with you."

"They said they did not want to be friends with you. But they cannot prevent me from being your frenemy! I am my own clan!"

"I think you mean my own man," said Jack.

"That too!"

An agonized draconic roar ripped through the forest surrounding Chase Young's lair, causing the two frenemies to jump and look towards the cave's entrance. "What kind of evil monster could make such a noise?" asked Omi.

"I think I might have accidentally given Chase food poisoning…" admitted Jack.

Another bone-chilling roar assaulted their ear drums. "That does not sound like food poisoning to me," said Omi. "We should go see what sort of evil plan he is up to!" The monk began to make his way quickly up the side of the mountain to Chase's layer without waiting for any input from Jack.

The boy genius shrugged and followed with his heli-bot. "What are frenemies for?"

Meanwhile, in the palace, Shadow was just walking into the throne room and dropped her glass when she saw Chase in his dragon form lying in the center of the room, coiled protectively around… "An egg? You're seriously expecting me to believe you just laid an egg?" Shadow asked incredulously.

Chase opened his eyes and glared up at her. "Shadow, you were born from my rib which turned into a clam shell. Are you really going to question this?"

Shadow scowled and made her way closer. Chase felt a low growl building in his throat instinctively.

"It's not very evil, taking care of an egg," she mused.

"Whatever's inside this egg could grow up to help us rule the world," Chase insisted.

"I guess that's kind of evil… I bet we could have girly-boy's chef bot make us a lot of omelets with that egg. Looks yummy," Shadow hissed.

Before he knew what he was doing, Chase had leapt up and shoved Shadow against the wall, his claws digging into her arms. "If you so much as touch my egg, you'll be drinking your next omelet through a tube."

"Jeez, and here I thought you didn't care about shen gong wu," she muttered, turning her head away from his menacing fangs.

Chase whipped around, letting go of Shadow so as not to let her see the conflicted look in his eyes. "I don't care about it because it's a shen gong wu! I don't care about it all…" he insisted, wondering who he was trying to fool, Shadow or himself.

"Of course you don't. That's why you were cuddling with it when I walked in the room."

"It needs to be kept warm in order for it to hatch! …You're right; I'm not acting like myself. I haven't felt like this since…" he shook his head to clear the memories that still haunted him. "Jungle cats!" he ordered, turning to quit the room. "Look after the egg, keep it warm, and make sure nothing happens to it. If anything goes wrong while I'm gone, I'm sure you can guess the consequences."

As soon as Chase and Shadow left the room, Omi and Jack popped out from where they had been hiding. "Chase Young laid an egg?" asked Omi. "I am most befuddled!"

"Man, I didn't think that orchid serum was _that_ toxic!" said Jack. "Then again, he is a big evil lizard creature. I wouldn't put it past him."

"They said something about the egg being a shen gong wu," said Omi. "It does look most familiar… Ah! That's it! It's the egg of the red robin shen gong wu! Dojo showed it to me once."

"Really? What does it do?" asked Jack.

"I don't remember, but Chase said it could help them take over the world!"

"Yeah, Chase, Shadow, and F-Bot will take over the world without me," Jack muttered. "They probably won't even make me one of their minions!"

"We cannot allow that to happen! We must take the egg and keep it from falling into the wrong hands!"

"And how exactly are we supposed to that? I don't know if you've noticed but its surrounded by Chase's tigers!"

"Do not worry, I have a plan," Omi smirked. He then shoved Jack out into the center of the room, right in front of the line of fierce, fanged felines. "You distract the cats; I'll get the egg!"

"Uh, hi kitties. Good kitties, nice kitties…" said Jack in a tremulous squeak. Slowly he backed himself up against the wall, unintentionally leading the cats away from the egg and giving Omi just enough room to strike.

The monk dashed in through the opening and towards the egg, but did not go unnoticed by the jungle cats. He whipped out his orb of tornami and held it over his head. "Orb of tornami!" he shouted, unleashing a flood of water, knocking back the incoming cats.

Jack screamed and dashed out of the way of the water and the panthers that were still coming after him. Omi jumped in front of him and fought off the remaining cats. "Quick, let's grab the egg before he comes back!" Omi hissed once all the cats had been defeated.

Jack took in a deep breath the collect himself and ran with Omi to the egg. Careful not to drop it, they hefted the thing into their arms and dashed out of the palace.

"Something isn't right," said Chase, looking up from his dinner.

"What now?" sighed Shadow.

Chase sat up from the table and quickly made his way back to the throne room only to find his cats soaked and defeated, his egg nowhere in sight. His heart sank in his chest and then sped up faster than he'd felt in years. He was supposed to be in control of his body. He did not get panicked. "You worthless imbeciles!" he shouted. "I trusted you. I never should have let it out of my sight."

One of the tigers growled shamefully. Chase wanted to ask who had taken the egg, but judging by the drenched state of his carpet, he already knew. "Omi," he sneered. "How dreadfully ironic. Come on, we have to get it back before it falls into less capable hands."

Shadow stepped in front of him and looked over him with a scrutinizing gaze. "You're scared, aren't you? This egg is really getting to you."

Chase closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I can no longer deny that this egg has left me more emotionally compromised than I would care to admit. But we haven't the time for that right now." He beckoned for his remaining jungle cats to follow him and stormed out of his palace in the direction of the Xiaolin temple.

Shadow crossed her arms and scowled to herself as she watched Chase and his cats leave. "He's so obsessed with that stupid egg," she muttered. "I thought I was his favorite, but now that he's gonna have a new kid no one cares about Shadow anymore. Well, maybe I'll just have to go find that egg and take care of it myself." With that, she dissolved into her shadowy form and slipped away from the confines of the palace.

"Has anyone seen Omi?" asked Kimiko as she and the other monks were getting ready for bed.

"I ain't seen hide or hair of the little fella since Jack left," said Clay.

"Omi really wanted us to be friends with Jack. I hope we didn't hurt his feelings too bad," said Kimiko.

"He'll be fine," Raimundo dismissed. "I mean it's not like he could actually care about Jack Spicer."

"Omi believes there is good in everyone," Ping Pong chimed in. "If anyone is going to truly believe in Jack Spicer, it is him."

"I think the littler fella is right. Omi even believed there was good in Chase Young!" Clay remembered.

"Aw man, you guys don't think he went after Jack, do you?" Raimundo sighed.

"He might have. I just hope he's okay," said Kimiko.

"He's fine. I mean, even if he did go off with Jack, its Jack Spicer. What's he gonna do, scream Omi to death?"

It was at that moment that the monks heard the sound of footsteps and heavy breathing coming from down the hall. "Hey, slow down a bit! I can't run that fast!" came a familiar whining voice. Before they knew it, Omi and Jack came sprinting into the room, carrying what appeared to be a giant egg.

"See," said Raimundo, jabbing a nonchalant thumb in Omi and Jack's direction, "what'd I tell you? Fine."

"Omi! Where have you been? We were worried!" exclaimed Kimiko.

"And what in the Sam Hill is that?" asked Clay, pointing at the egg. "That's even bigger than the eggs from my great aunt Jo's ostrich farm!"

"We found it in Chase Young's palace," explained Omi.

"And you thought it was good idea to steal a giant egg from Chase Young _because_?" asked Kimiko.

"We thought it might be a powerful shen gong wu! Dojo, do you remember telling me about the egg of the red robin shen gong wu?"

"Yeah!" replied the dragon. "If I remember correctly it looks kind of just like that... oh."

"See! We must keep it from falling into his evil hands!"

"This is a pretty rare wu to find, seeing as it needs a reptilian or avian host to lay it. Or a platypus, but what are the chances of that," laughed the dragon.

"What does it do?" wondered Ping Pong.

"Honestly, I don't know. No one's ever used it before. It only activates once the egg hatches, but until then it needs to be kept warm."

"How do we do that?" asked Jack.

"Well…" began Clay. "I can tell you how chickens do it."

"Does it feel warm enough to you?" asked Omi, rubbing his hand over the shell of the giant egg he and Jack were currently sitting on.

"I guess… are you sure we should be sitting on it? What if we break it? This is my good shirt!"

"The real question is what are we going to do when Chase realizes its missing and comes looking for it?" asked Kimiko.

"We will toss that fridge when we come to it," Omi dismissed.

At that moment a chorus of feline growls filled the room as Chase's jungle cats preceded him into the temple, completely surrounding the Xiaolin warriors.

Clay gulped nervously took up a fighting stance. "Looks like we've just come it, partner."

"Step aside," commanded Chase, walking into the room. "I'm not interested in fighting you. Give me back my egg, and no one gets hurt."

"We cannot let you have it. It is far too powerful to be in the hands of evil," said Omi.

"Fine, have it your way. Jungle cats, destroy them." At the snap of Chase's fingers, the cats lunged at the Xiaolin warriors. Omi and Jack sat back cringing as they watched the others fight.

"I must go help my friends! You stay here and keep the egg warm!" Omi ordered Jack before pulling out his orb of tornami and jumping into the battle.

Jack watched, flinching at every punch thrown and cowering behind the egg when the fighting came too close for comfort. Looking at the powerful shen gong wu so temptingly in his grasp and then back at the others, all thoroughly distracted, and evil grin spread out over his pale face. Without a sound, he picked up the egg and edged his way out the door, slowly at first, then breaking into a sprint. He allowed himself an evil chuckle once he had cleared the room. "Who needs friends when you can have world domination, baby!"

As Omi went into to land a punch on Chase Young, the dark lord of evil grabbed the monk by shirt and lifted him up to eye level. "I really don't want to have to hurt you, so I'll ask one last time: give me back my egg."

"It will be safe with us!" Omi attempted to assure him. "Jack Spicer is keeping it warm! See!" But when he gestured towards where Jack Spicer and the egg had once been, all they saw was an empty nest. "Jack?" Omi called out. But there was no reply.

"Where is my egg?" asked Chase through gritted teeth. Omi could feel him starting to tremble.

"It was here just a minute ago!"

"You _lost_ my egg? To _Jack Spicer_!?" Chase let go of Omi's shirt and turned away from the monks, taking in a few deep, shaky breaths in an attempt to compose himself. Were those tears burning at his eyes? No, he hadn't cried in years and he was not about to let himself do that now, not in front of the Xiaolin monks. "I need that egg back. More importantly, I need it out of the hands of Jack Spicer as quickly as possible. That incompetent insect will probably trip and drop it. I don't even want to think about what I would do if…" He had to close his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose, attempting to stave off the break down he could feel looming in the distance. Curse his paternal instincts! "I'm sorry you have to see me like this. But you must understand what this egg means to me."

"I do understand," said Omi. "And that is why I am going to help you get it back."

"What? Omi!" the others gasped in shock.

"What are you saying?" asked Raimundo.

"We can't just give him the shen gong wu!" cried Kimiko.

"It is not just a shen gong wu! I understand what it is like to lose your family. I have lost my parents, and I will not allow Chase Young to lose his child."

Chase let out the breath he was not aware he had been holding and wiped at the tears that had been threatening to fall from his eyes before kneeling down to come face to face with Omi. "Thank you, Omi. And I promise you, if you help me get my egg back, I will help you find your family."

"You really think you could help me find them?" Omi asked.

Chase stood back up, unable to meet the hopeful look in the young monk's eyes. "As I've said, Omi, the world is a complex place. Nothing is impossible. Now let's go. Knowing Jack, there's not much time until he does something stupid."

Impressively enough, Jack had managed to get the egg back to his RV without dropping it or harming it in anyway. "Make sure you keep it warm enough," the evil boy genius instructed the robot he had tasked with caring for the egg. "I don't want a giant egg rotting in here. Ahhh!" A scream escaped his lips as the whole RV was rocked by Shadow prying open the door and making her grand entrance.

"Oh I don't think you'll have to worry about that," she hissed. "I'll have that chef bot of your whip us up some nice eggs benedict before that can happen."

Before he could formulate a response, Jack let out another scream as his whole RV was shaken once again, this time by Chase Young himself. "Hello, Spicer. I'm only going to say this once so you had better cooperate. Hand over the egg, or I will not hesitate to destroy you."

"I don't think it's him you have to worry about," hissed Shadow.

"Shadow, what are you doing here?"

"What I should have done as soon as you laid this bloody thing," she sneered, pulling out her blue moon blade and running full speed towards the egg. Chase ran towards her, intercepting her before she could reach his precious egg and fending her off with his life. The Xiaolin monks were right behind him and filed into the RV to protect the egg.

Realizing he was surrounded, Jack called in for back up. "Jackbots, attack!"

The Xiaolin warriors made short work of Jack's robots while the boy genius watched helplessly from the corner, wincing as the battle left dents in his precious RV. "Hey! Watch the paint! This thing isn't paid off yet!" he cried.

All the Jackbots defeated, Shadow saw her opportunity and took it, shifting into her incorporeal shadow form to slip past Chase and grab the egg. Thankfully, Omi was on his toes and got the egg at the same time, triggering a Xiaolin Showdown. Chase took in a deep breath and tried not to show his distress. He knew other people's kids got into fights too, but nothing like this.

"Shadow, I challenge you to a Xiaolin Showdown," said Omi. "I wager my orb of tornami."

"You really think you can beat me? We'll see about that. I wager my blue moon blade."

"The first one to get to the egg wins!" proposed Omi. "Let's go, Xiaolin Showdown!"

Jack Spicer's RV fell away from around them and the scenery transformed into a forest, complete with a giant tree in the middle, and at the top of the tree was Chase's egg, sitting in a nest perched precariously at the end of a branch.

"Lizards don't lay eggs in trees," mused Jack from the side lines.

"Eh, to each his own," said Dojo.

"Gong yi tan pi!" Omi and Shadow shouted, and started their ascent up the tree. Chase Young had to use all of his self-restraint not to jump into the showdown and get the egg himself. Omi and Shadow were nearly evenly matched; he had trained them both. But Omi was fighting for his family, in more ways than he knew. Shadow was only motivated by jealously and far less disciplined. He knew Omi would win.

"Orb of tornami!" Omi shouted, slashing Shadow with a powerful blast of cold water.

She shook herself off and hissed to herself. "Blue moon blade!" she shouted, swinging the sword at the base of the branch on which the monk was standing. But it did little good; Omi had already jumped up to the next branch.

"Orb of tornami!" he shouted, directing the blast of water below him. Shadow still could not be shaken.

Omi quickly made his way up the tree, flinging himself from branch to branch. He was almost at the top when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. "Ahhh! Squirrel!" he shouted.

"Come on, Omi! You can do this!" Kimiko shouted from the ground.

"It is just a squirrel; it will not hurt you!" called Ping Pong.

"Just a squirrel. Just a squirrel," Omi chanted to himself. With Shadow quickly gaining on him, he opened his eyes and tried to keep going. But the poor squirrel, oblivious to the young monk's phobia, kept coming closer. "Get away from me! Ahhh!" Omi shouted as his nervously sweating hands lost grip on the branch and he plummeted downwards, eventually catching a grip a few branches down.

Shadow chuckled to herself. "Squirrels, who knew they could come in so handy?"

"Omi!" Chase called from down below. "You have to trust yourself and have confidence in your ability to face your fears. You have overcome much in your life. Are you really going to let yourself be defeated now, all because of some rodent?"

"No, but…"

"No buts. You must find the courage within yourself. Remember all that I've taught you."

A fire of determination building inside of him, Omi gathered all of his strength and heaved himself up onto the next branch, and then the next one, until he finally had to come face to face with the squirrel. "Step aside, rodent. You do not scare me; I am a Xiaolin warrior!" he declared. The squirrel chirped good-naturedly and scampered on its merry way, completely unaware of the powerful words that had just been shouted at it.

Empowered by his ability to get past the squirrel, Omi clambered up the tree at twice his normal speed, jumping from branch to branch and scaling the trunk, leaving Shadow in the dust. "Ah ha!" he cried victoriously as he reached the top of the tree and held the egg securely in his arms.

As quickly as it had appeared, the forest was gone and the warriors all found themselves standing on the grass outside of Jack's RV. Shadow crossed her arms and grumbled to herself before shifting into her shadow form and slipping away.

Chase Young felt a wave of relief wash over him as he saw Omi approaching him to return his egg, only to be quickly replaced with more gut-wrenching tension at the thought of what he would now have to reveal. If only he hadn't been so distraught, he never would have told Omi he would help him find his family. But he was not one to go back on his promises. He was going to have to tell him.

"I believe this belongs to you," said Omi, handing over the shen gong wu.

Chase gratefully took the egg and clutched it close to his chest. "Yes, thank you, Omi. You have been an honorable warrior in keeping your word to return my egg. Compromised as I was, I may not have been able to do it without you. So now I will honor my promise to you." Never letting go of the egg, Chase leaned down and lowered his voice so only Omi could hear him. Taking in a deep breath and putting a hand on Omi's shoulder, he revealed his secret. "Omi… I am your father."

The monk was silent for a second, his curious eyes filling with confusion and then despair. "What? No… it cannot be…"

Chase just nodded solemnly and stepped back. "I am sure you must have many questions. But now is not the time or place. Again, thank you." He said, gesturing to the egg. He then took another step back and lifted off the ground, silently disappearing in a feat of Heylin magic.

Omi could not turn back to face his friends, only stare at the palace where Chase had just stood.

"What is it, Omi? What did he say?" asked Kimiko.

Omi could not bring himself to meet the imploring gazes of his friends. In a distant, haunted voice he replied. "He said that _he_ is my family."

"What? Chrome-dome gets to be related to Chase Young? That is so not fair!" cried Jack, but he quickly shut up as he was met with a glare from the monks.

Everyone was silent. As they listened to the wind rustle through the leaves of the trees there was nothing any of them could say.


End file.
